THOMAS, James, governor of Maryland, b. in St. Mary's county, Md., 11 March, 178o ; d. there, 25 Dec, 1845. His father, William, served as a private in the " Maryland line," and was for many years president of the state senate. The son was educated at Charlotte Hall academy, and was graduated at the Philadelphia medical college in 1807. In April, 1812, he was commissioned major of the 4th volunteer cavalry, and he afterward became major-general of Maryland militia. Subsequently he served in the state senate, and in 1833-'6 was governor of Maryland.
THOMAS, Jane, heroine, b. in Chester county,
Pa., in the 18th century. She was the wife of
John Thomas, colonel of the Spartan regiment of
South Carolina. On hearing that a large party
was approaching to seize the ammunition that
Gov. John Rutledge had intrusted to his keeping,
Col. Thomas fled with his band of twenty-five men,
taking with him a part of the powder. Two men
and two women were left in charge of the house,
which was attacked by the Tories. Mrs. Thomas
and her companion loaded the guns for the men,
and a continual firing was kept up until the assailants
withdrew. It is said that the ammunition
that she saved through her courage was the main
supply for Sumter's command in the skirmishes at
Rocky Mount and Hanging Rock.
THOMAS, Jesse Burgess, senator, b. in Hagers-
town, Md., in 1777; d. in Mount Vernon, Ohio, 4
May, 1853. He was a descendant of Lord Balti-
more. He removed to the west in 1779, studied
law with his brother, Richard Symmes Thomas,
in Bracken county, Ky., went to Lawrenceburg, Ind.,
in March, 1803, and practised his profession. In
January, 1805, he was elected delegate to the legis-
lature of Indiana territory at Vincennes, and he
was speaker of the house in 1805-'8. He was ter-
ritorial delegate to congress in 1808-'9, then moved
to Kaskaskia, and, upon the organization of the
territory of Illinois, 7 March, 1809, was appointed
by President Madison one of the judges of the
U. S. court. In July, 1818, he was a delegate from
St. Clair county to the convention that framed
the state constitution, and was' its president. At
the first session of the legislature he was elected
XJ. S. senator, and held that post from 4 Dec,
1818, till 3 March, 1829. In 1820 he introduced
the " Missouri Compromise " and secured its adop-
tion. In 1824 he strongly advocated the nomina-
tion of William H. Crawford for president, and
was delegate to the convention at Columbus in
1840 that nominated his friend, William Henry
Harrison. He afterward removed to Mount Ver-
non. Ohio, where he committed suicide. — His great-
nephew, Jesse Burgess, clergyman, b. in Edwards-
vilie, 111., 29 July, 1832, is the son of Jesse Burgess
Thomas (1806-1850), who was for many years a
judge of the circuit and supreme courts of Illinois.
After graduation at Kenyon college, Gambier,
Ohio, in 1850, the son studied law, and was admitted
to the bar of Illinois in 1852. In 1853-'4 he studied
in Rochester theological seminary, but was forced
to leave, owing to impaired health, and engaged in
mercantile pursuits in Chicago. He entered the
Baptist ministry in 1862, and was pastor of a church
in Waukegan, 111., in 1862-'4, of the Pierrepont
street church in Brooklyn, N. Y., in 1864-'8, of the
1st church in San Francisco, Cal., in 1868-'9, and
of the Michigan avenue church in Chicago from
1869 till 1874, when he became pastor of the 1st
Bapl ist church in Brooklyn, N. Y. In 1887 he ac-
cepted a professorship in the theological seminary
at Newton Centre, Mass. The ' University of Chi-
cago gave him the degree of D. D. in 1866. He is
the author of " The Old Bible and the New Sci-
ence " (New York, 1877), and " The Mould of Doc-
trine " (Philadelphia, 1883).
THOMAS, John, soldier, b. in Marshfield, Mass.,
in 1725; d. in Chambly, near Montreal, Canada, 2
June, 1776. He was educated in his native town,
studied medicine under Dr. Cotton Tufts, of Med-
ford, and practised in his native town and after-
ward at Kingston, Mass., where he attained note
in his profession. In 1746 he was appointed surgeon
to a regiment that was sent to Annapolis Royal,
Nova Scotia, and in 1747 he served on the medical
staff of Gen. William Shirley's regiment, but
changed this post for that of lieutenant. In 1759
he became a colonel of provincials, and was em-
ployed with his corps in Nova Scotia. In 1760 he
commanded a regiment under Gen. Jeffrey Amherst
at Crown Point, headed the left wing of the detach-
ment that Amherst sent under Col. William Havi-
land from Lake Champlain in August, 1760, to co-
operate with the other division of the army moving
against Montreal, and was present at the capture
of that city. He then returned to his practice in
Kingston, where he remained until the beginning
of the Revolution. He joined the Sons of liberty,
raised a regiment of volunteers, and on 9 Feb.,
1775, was appointed a brigadier-general by the
Provincial congress. Being overlooked in promo-
tion, he withdrew, but, on the receipt of letters
from Gen. Charles Lee and Gen. Washington and
a resolution from congress that he should have
precedence of all brigadiers in the army, Gen.
Thomas returned to his command. Gen. Washing-
ton in his letter to congress, under date of 10 July,
, said : " Gen. Thomas is much esteemed, and
most earnestly desired to continue in the service ;
and, as far as my opportunities have enabled me to
judge, I must join in the general opinion that he
is an able, good officer, and his resignation would
be a public loss." During the siege of Boston he
commanded a brigade on the Roxbury side, nearest
the British lines. On the evening of 4 March,
, with 3.000 men and a supply of intrenching
tools, he took possession of Dorchester heights,
and before dawn formidable works had been thrown
up, which movement caused the British to evacuate
the town on 17 March, 1776. On 6 March, 1776, he
was appointed major-general. After the death of
Gen. James Montgomery he was intrusted with
the command in Canada, and joined the army be-
fore Quebec on 1 May ; but as he found the force
less than 1,000 men, 300 of whom, being entitled
to discharge, refused to serve, and as the small-pox
was raging among the troops, and the enemy had
been re-enforced, he determined that they were not
in a condition to risk an assault. The disabled
soldiers were removed to Three Rivers, and the
American troops retreated from one post to another
until by 18 June they had evacuated Canada. Be-
fore reaching Chambly, on the river Sorel, Gen.
Thomas was fatally attacked by small-pox.
THOMAS, John, founder of a sect, b. in London, England, 12 April, 1805; d. in Jersey city, N. J., 5 March, 1871. He was educated in Lon- don, and became demonstrator of anatomy at St.
Thomas's hospital in that city. In 1850 he came to this country and joined the Campbellite Baptists, but left this sect to found another, whose members he called Christadelphians. In 1860 he
returned to England, where he delivered lectures, gaining many converts to his theories there as well as in this country. He edited the " Apostolic Advocate" from 1832 till 1837, in 1845-7 the
"Herald of the Future Age," and from 1851 till 1861 the "Herald of the Kingdom." In addition
